Today’s blog finishes up a week of my comments about
Obamacare. To end the week, I’m
featuring one small business owner who shares my appreciation of the healthcare
reform and what it has done and will do for small businesses.
Unlike the small business that contacted me
yesterday asking to be removed from the S.C. Small Business Chamber’s
membership “due to the positions taken by the organization”, Betsy Burton
writes about how the health insurance tax credits under Obamacare stopped her
from closing her bookstore.
As we wait the Supreme Court’s ruling possibly as
early as this coming Monday, we should be listening to real life small business
owners like Ms. Burton who have actual experience with Obamacare.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bloomberg BusinessweekJune 6, 2012
This Bookstore Owner
Isn't Bashing Health-Care Tax Credits
By Betsy Burton
The airwaves have been buzzing lately over whether the small business health insurance tax credit is all it’s cracked up to be. But here’s a question: When is free money not all it’s cracked up to be? Maybe when that money is made possible by a health-care reform law that some politicos are waging an ideological war against.
The airwaves have been buzzing lately over whether the small business health insurance tax credit is all it’s cracked up to be. But here’s a question: When is free money not all it’s cracked up to be? Maybe when that money is made possible by a health-care reform law that some politicos are waging an ideological war against.
Encompassing many measures that
positively affect millions of people, the Affordable Care Act helps small
business owners like me better afford health coverage for our families and our
employees. As the mother of a son who needs ongoing medical care due to a
preexisting condition, and as an entrepreneur who takes pride in offering
employer-sponsored health insurance to the eight employees who qualify and to
their families, I am doubly thankful for the law.
By taking advantage of the reform
law’s health insurance tax credit, my Salt Lake City business saved $11,000 on
our premium contributions in 2010 and slightly less in 2011 since two insured
employees moved away. The savings afforded by the tax credit both years has
allowed me to continue offering benefits to deserving employees who’ve been
with me for years at the King’s English Bookshop. We’ve recently added an
employee and expect our tax credit to grow again—especially in 2014, when it
increases to 50 percent.
Just a few years ago, our
health-care premiums grew so high (well more than $70,000 a year, an amount
that increased our payroll to an unsustainable 30 percent of our gross) that I
seriously considered closing up shop. Bookstores are at a competitive disadvantage
with the Internet right now, and after 35 years in business it would have been
a shame if we were forced out the way so many booksellers already have been.
Our health-care savings have put those worries on hold. We have other worries,
of course, Internet sales chief among them, but with the support of our
community and our staff, an active event calendar (authors, who support
independent booksellers, visit from all over the country), and our growing
technological abilities, we are surviving.
That’s why I’m so surprised—and
disappointed—by all the negativity surrounding the tax credit. The economy is
still on shaky ground, and I know I’m not the only one struggling to turn a
profit. Because I fit so exactly into the parameters of the act, I qualified for
more money than some others are getting back, but I still believe any business
owner would welcome extra cash. There’s also been a lot of hubbub over the
complexity of claiming the credit, but our accountant told me she didn’t have
trouble with it.
In fact, it was through my
accountant that I first heard about this opportunity. Like any thorough
professional working to help businesses and other customers save money, she
checks frequently for new developments in the tax world. Last year, the
health-care credit was one of them. Able to calculate our savings without
difficulty, she charged no extra fee for doing so. Tax laws change every year,
and as far as I’m concerned, it’s an accountant’s job to keep up with those
changes. The tax credit is no different.
Except for the fact that it carries
political weight—right now, especially. With the Supreme Court set to decide
the Affordable Care Act’s fate this month, opponents are using every
opportunity to aim at its moving parts. There’s so much misinformation circulating
about the legislation in general, and unfortunately, some of it is even coming
from people who claim to represent the interests of small business.
But I’m a real small business owner,
and I can tell you that one of my biggest interests is maintaining a healthy
bottom line. The Affordable Care Act is helping me do that. By spreading the
word, I hope I can encourage even more entrepreneurs to find out if they’re
eligible for the kind of relief I received. I’m a member of the advocacy group
Small Business Majority, and I saw a January 2011 survey it commissioned that
showed more than half of the 619 small business owners who responded had never
even heard of the health-care tax credit. Considering this, along with efforts
by some of the law’s opponents to discourage small employers from looking into
its benefits, the lack of uptake being blown up in the media isn’t entirely
surprising.
Again, I strongly encourage all my
fellow small employers to look into the credit—or at least ask their
accountants to. It’s not a waste of time. Take my word for it as an
entrepreneur with more than three decades of experience who puts business
before politics.+(124x76).jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment